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Extra-special Dawn recommendations!
Surrender
by Sonya Hartnett
posted February 27, 2008
|
As life slips away, Gabriel looks back over his brief
twenty years, which have been clouded by frustration and humiliation. A
small town [in Australia] and distant parents ensure that he is never
allowed to forget the horrific mistake he made as a child. He has only
two friends-his dog, Surrender, and the unruly wild boy, Finnigan, with
whom he made a boyhood pact.
When a series of arson attacks grips the town, Gabriel
realizes how unpredictable and dangerous Finnigan is. Events begin to
spiral out of control, and it becomes clear that only the most extreme
measures will rid Gabriel of Finnigan for good.
-from the book jacket |
Dawn says:
A psychological thriller that was identified in 2007 as a Printz honor book
(literary excellence in young adult literature) this one is not for the
squeamish. Your brain will get a workout as you try to sort out fantasy from
reality in the tortured mind of Gabriel. Recommended for teens 9th
grade and up.
Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
posted February 27, 2008
|
Welcome to Elsewhere. It is usually warm with a breeze,
the sun and the stars shine brightly, and the beaches are marvelous.
It’s quiet and peaceful here. And you can’t get sick or any older. It’s
where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a
place so like earth, yet completely different from it. Here Liz will age
backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and
returns to Earth.
But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen (again). She
wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high
school and go to college. She wants to fall in love. And now that she’s
dead, Liz is forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother
she has only just met. And it isn’t going well.
-from the book jacket |
Dawn says:
I know what you’re thinking; this book “sounds like a downer”. But think
again! This was a terrific read and it had me laughing and, yeah, maybe
shedding a tear or two on occasion. But all in all this is a very life
affirming book and its message and images have stayed with me. Definitely
one the best teen books I’ve read in the last 3 years. Give it a try. You
won’t be disappointed. By the way, we also have this title
on CD! Recommended for teens 6th
grade and up.
The
Trap by John Smelcer
posted January 4, 2008
|
Seventeen-year-old Johnny
Least-Weasel knows that his grandfather Albert is a stubborn old man
and won’t stop checking his own trap lines even though other men his
age stopped doing so years ago. But Albert Least-Weasel has been
running trap lines in the Alaskan wilderness alone for the past sixty
years. Nothing has ever gone wrong on the trail he knows so well.
When Albert doesn’t come back from checking his traps, with the
temperature steadily plummeting, Johnny must decide quickly whether to
trust his grandfather or his own instincts.
Written in alternating chapters that relate the parallel stories of
Johnny and his grandfather, this novel poignantly addresses the
hardships of life in the far north, suggesting that the most dangerous
traps need not be made of steel.
-from the book
jacket |
Dawn says:
Read this beauty if you’re hankering for a survival adventure story! It is a
quick read (170 pages) and will keep you riveted till the very end. But be
sure to have a warm blanket and a hot cup of cocoa at the ready. This author
will put you in the Alaskan wilderness! Recommended for teens 6th
grade and up.
The
Black Book of Secrets by F. E. Higgins
posted January 4, 2008
|
A boy arrives at a remote
village in the dead of night. His name is Ludlow Fitch-and he is
running from a most terrible past. What he is about to learn is that
in this village is the life he has dreamed of-a safe place to live,
and a job, as the assistant to the mysterious pawnbroker who trades
people’s deepest, darkest secrets for cash. Ludlow’s job is to neatly
transcribe the confessions in an ancient leather-bound tome: The Black
Book of Secrets.
-from the book
jacket |
Dawn says:
Ok, confession time. I’m a big fan of Charles Dickens’s books so the setting
of this book, very dark late 19th century London-esque, grabbed
me from the get go! I really enjoyed this mystery and waited with
anticipation as the characters revealed their sins! Need I write more to
entice you to read this book? How about the first line of the book?
“When I opened my eyes I knew that nothing in my
miserable life prior to that moment could possibly be as bad as what was
about to happen.”
Recommended for teens 6th grade and up.
